They might be one of the hottest new gadgets around – but clearly hoverboards are harder to control than you might think.

As Watchdog presenter Chris Hollins discovered on Thursday night’s show when, while trailing an upcoming item about dangerous cheaper versions of the boards, he attempted to ride on one – and promptly fell off.

It all started smoothly enough as Chris brought the offending item in to the studio, declaring: ‘They’re really difficult to drive, these, because I’ve just fallen over.’

Which he did – on live TV – just seconds later, as the board went from under his feet and rolled off in to a corner, leaving him floored.

Oh. (Picture: BBC)

Oops.

We don’t ever remember this happening to Marty McFly:

We can’t work out whether Chris’ tumble was entirely accidental – or whether he was just trying to prove the ‘dangerous limitations’ of the hoverboards he had previously mentioned on the show – but nonetheless it certainly livened up proceedings.

Meanwhile, Anne Robinson’s absence from the show – with the Watchdog veteran replaced on Thursday night by co-hosts Michelle Ackerley and Sophie Raworth – didn’t prove too popular with viewers, many of whom took to Twitter to ask where she was: